Highlights for Wednesday, 24 July 2019
Delegates discuss the draft high-level action plan
On Wednesday, the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) continued its deliberations, focusing on the implementation of the Authority’s Strategic Plan 2019-2023, including a draft high-level action plan and key performance indicators (KPIs). Delegates also heard and discussed the report of the Chair of the Finance Committee.Highlights of the day include the:
diverging views on the draft high-level action plan and the KPIs prior to their adoption, with some delegations suggesting adoption and others preferring the establishment of an intersessional working group for further discussion;
discussion on the timeline of the action plan in relation to the Strategic Plan, with some delegates stressing a “time gap” regarding activities scheduled for 2019; and
report of the Chair of the Finance Committee, including the terms of reference for the voluntary trust funds for the Special Representative of the Enterprise and that for extrabudgetary support.
A side event, organized by Nauru during lunchtime, addressed the potential sources of metals necessary for the green transition, and focused on the supply and demand landscape for copper, manganese, cobalt, and nickel.During the discussion on the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2019-2023, many delegates stressed that the draft high-level action plan and KPIs should be kept under review. Some participants noted a time lag in implementation, stressing that the Strategic Plan has already started, while the corresponding action plan has not yet been adopted. One delegate remarked: “We are examining the plan midway through the year; some of the proposed activities with a 2019 timeline should have already been evaluated.”Opinions differed on the way forward. Some delegates expressed support for the adoption of the draft high-level action plan and its associated indicators. One delegation, in particular, cautioned against micromanaging the Secretariat. Others, however, preferred the establishment of an open-ended working group to work intersessionally and satisfy their concerns on various parts of the text. As the day progressed and consensus was reached, including on a thorny paragraph related to transparency, delegates relaxed to prepare for what is expected to be a memorable commemorative session of the 25th anniversary of the Authority, on Thursday. For more details on the day’s events and to hear what delegates said in the breezeways, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from the 2nd Part of ISA-25. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, has published a summary and analysis from the meeting, which is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera
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The dais during Wednesday’s proceedings (L-R) Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, ISA Legal Counsel and Deputy to the Secretary-General; ISA Secretary-General Michael Lodge; Marie Bourrel-McKinnon, ISA Secretariat; and Kamina Johnson Smith, Assembly President
Satyendra Prasad, Fiji
Mariusz Orion Jędrysek, Assembly Vice-President
Francisco Javier Bernales and Roberto Álvarez, Chile
Tom Diederen, the Netherlands
Tetsuya Yoshimoto, Japan
Marcello Iocca and Marzia Rovere, Italy
Maruthadu Sudhakar, India
Gina Guillén Grillo, Costa Rica
Matthew Gianni, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition
Jerome Dyment, InterRidge
L-R: Félix García, Dominican Republic; Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, Norway; Gina Guillén Grillo, Costa Rica; and Patricio Ureña Palacio, Argentina
Lenin Naranjo, Ecuador, and Félix García, Dominican Republic
Ernesto Malda, Mexico
Montri Luengingkasoot, Thailand
Sonali Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka, and Carlos García Soto, Spain
L-R: Alison Swaddling, the Commonwealth Secretariat; Philomène Verlaan, International Marine Minerals Society (IMMS); and Diva Amon, Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI)
Rena Lee, Singapore, and Emily Johnson, Australia
Jihyun Lee, ISA Secretariat, and Kathy-Ann Brown, Jamaica
Urs Daniel Engels confers with Bernd von Münchow-Pohl, Germany
L-R: Young Lee, Suh Yeon Jee, Sun Hwa Kim, and Hwaran Lee, Republic of Korea
Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General, discussing the latest ENB with Kenneth Wong, Canada
L-R: John Fintakpa Lamega and Laré Penn, Togo; Gwénaëlle Le Gurun, ISA Secretariat; and Tidiani Couma, Monaco, sharing a laugh during a break
Mitsuru Kayama, Japan, and Cai Yongsheng, ISA Secretariat
Marzia Rovere and Marcello Iocca, Italy, conferring with Denys Wibaux, France
Ted Brockett, Continental Shelf Associates, Inc. (CSA), and Laurens de Jonge, the Netherlands
ISA Secretary-General Michael Lodge, in consultations with Irina Ponomareva and Vladislav Kurbatskiy, Russian Federation
Marie Bourrel-McKinnon, ISA Secretariat, discussing with Li Linlin, China
Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General; and Mariusz Orion Jędrysek, Assembly Vice-President
Representatives from Tonga take a selfie before the morning session
Jagdish Koonjul, Mauritius, reviewing ISA’s media appearances over the years
A view of ISA Headquarters